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Any Ontario Liberal who has come within reach of eHealth, ORNGE or the power plant deals really has no business leading the province.

These debacles, which were all being probed to some degree prior to prorogation, are an albatross trio hanging over many prominent Liberals. Seeing as Ontarians still have many questions, such Liberals would be wise to not enter the ring, clean conscience or not.

Assuming the only serious contenders right now are Kathleen Wynne, Glen Murray and Sandra Pupatello (the latter not yet declared) let’s look at them through that prism.

Many commentators have voiced excitement at the prospect of Ontario having its first female or gay premier. Based on the above three it seems at least one of these will come to pass, if not both, so we can drop the “historic” factor from the discussion and get down to policy talk.

None are, to use gangland parlance, “in too deep”. None seem to have any dirt on them that makes them beholden to that albatross trio.

This is integral because if the new leader has any respect for Ontarians they must reconvene the committees investigating these bungles (and perhaps crimes). They must do this no matter how damning the findings are for their former cabinet colleagues and former leader.

Hence why Chris Bentley, Deb Matthews, George Smitherman and others have no place running.

Sandra Pupatello is farthest from the fray. While a long-time party supporter and Windsor MPP from 1995 until 2011 (she chose not to run), she didn’t support McGuinty in the 1996 leadership. Her current employment in global markets hopefully makes her appreciate how unsustainable our debt situation is.

Glen Murray, former Winnipeg mayor and current Toronto-Centre MPP, is the smoothest operator. He’s a career politician who considered running for Toronto mayor. His leadership pledge of “no money down” tuition suggests he’d roll out big government to appease special interests (and no doubt more useless agencies, thus paving the way for the next scandal). This isn’t what Ontario needs. If the pulse of Ontario was calling out for another McGuinty the original wouldn’t have resigned.

Don Valley West MPP Kathleen Wynne at first seemed willing to call McGuinty’s missteps for what they are, stating her “discomfort” with prorogation. But on Tuesday rather than craft her own position she defended the Premier’s call to prorogue. Her left-leaning stance could also lead us further down the big government path. A more fiscally conservative Liberal - do those exist anymore? - could hedge the party’s votes for the next election.

It’s hard to tell how deeply a politician will kowtow to party structure and history. When Michael Bryant was Attorney General, his memoir 28 Seconds revealed, he’d send communications from the Premier’s office to the shredder. Cavalier and obnoxious, yes, but a sign of independence.

The sad reality is there’s no knight waiting in the wings. Neither Tim Hudak or Andrea Horwath have the ability to promptly fix Ontario. Anyone praying the Liberals will select the weakest contender in the hopes they will self-destruct and bring the party down is playing with fire. That will bring greater harm to Ontario and further abuses of government.

Because the next Liberal leader is the next premier of Ontario, what’s required is a sober assessment of who, within the Liberal spectrum, is the best for the province for the time being. Let’s talk about general elections only once they arise.